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Project Title:PaCo - Mechanisms of panel conditioning in longitudinal surveys: Questions on social desirability, gender roles, and environment (English Version)
  2. General Information: *Note: This item was tested in German. This is an English translation of the original German wording.*
  3. Question Text: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
    [Inwieweit stimmen Sie der folgenden Aussage zu oder nicht zu?]
    All in all, family life suffers when the wife works full time.
    [Alles in allem leidet das Familienleben, wenn die Frau in Vollzeit berufstätig ist.]
  5. Answer Categories 1 Do not agree at all [Stimme überhaupt nicht zu]

    2

    3

    4

    5

    6

    7 Fully agree [Stimme voll und ganz zu]

    Don't know [Weiß nicht]

    1. Recommendations: Question: No changes recommended.

      Response format: No changes recommended.
  2. Cognitive Techniques:Information image/link to cognitive pretesting Comprehension Probe, General Probe, Category Selection Probe, Difficulty Probe, Specific Probe
  3. Findings for Question: What do the test persons understand by "family life"?

    All test persons associated the term with the cohabitation of father, mother and child(ren):
    • By that I mean all the things that happen in the free time or on weekends or how the family life together is, I say, after the job.” (TP 01)
    • I'll just say the standard family with mother, father, child. The father works full time, the mom works full time. Then things like activities with the child suffer in part. If both work full time, it is also quite difficult. Or they may not feel like doing something with the child if they work from Monday to Friday and are then exhausted at the weekend.” (TP 04)
    • So family life is, of course, that when the children come home from school, someone is there, or when they are still in kindergarten, that it's not always some neighbor who picks up the children. That you are together like that.” (TP 07)
    Do the test persons have problems understanding or answering the question?

    All test persons were able to locate themselves on the response scale, whereby the entire range of scales was used. Four test persons (TP 01, 02, 03, 06) disagreed with the statement (scale points 1 and 2), two test persons (TP 07, 08) chose the middle of the scale (scale point 4) and four test persons (TP 04, 05, 09, 10) agreed with the statement (scale points 5 and 7).

    In the cognitive interviews, the test persons were asked to explain their answers in more detail or to give reasons (General Probe, Category Selection Probe). With one exception (TP 10), the explanations provided by the test persons were in line with the answers selected and the question intention:
    • I tend to disagree with that, because I think you have a lot of opportunities these days to bal-ance work life and family life. And I think that a full-time job is not quite as intrusive into a family life as it might have been in the past.” (TP 01, Answer: Scale point 2)
    • I do not see it that way. The only exception would be if a newborn has to be breastfed. But otherwise I believe that children can also be cared for just as well by a man. [...] For me, it's simply a question of how you organize it. Some manage that, others don't. But here it's called 'all in all', I don't find that.” (TP 03, Answer: Scale point 1)
    • The middle way. Due to this, everyone has to find out for themselves what is better.” (TP 08, Answer: Scale point 4)
    • Well, it's already hard, family life suffers. In the evening, you don't feel like doing anything anymore, you think "I can't do it anymore" or "I don't want to do it anymore.” (TP 09; Answer: Scale point 7)
    Test person 10 stated that she tended to agree with the statement (scale point 5). In her reasoning, however, it became clear that she did not have a conservative gender role image, but was of the opinion that a conservative attitude on the part of the man could lead to family life suffering:
    • That depends on the situation. It always depends on the constellation. Depending on how the man is structured in family life, it is not necessarily the usual thing. There are also very conservative men who want to support the family alone because they don't see that a woman should be independent.”
      • INT: “
    • So, if I understand you correctly, it depends on the man whether family life suffers?”

      TP 10: “
    • Yes, exactly. Socially, how that accepts at all. It's still the case that women are paid less and so on. So, this is a complex story, so that it is not necessarily self-evident that a woman can finance herself independently.”
    Are there any pre-established/strong opinions on the topic?

    With the exception of test person 08, all test persons stated that they had a firm opinion on this subject. Test person 08 said that she first had to think about how to answer the question, due to the fact that she "did not have a 100% opinion" on the matter (response: scale point 4).
  2. Question Topic: Society & social affairs/ Attitudes to social groups
  3. Construct: Compatibility of family and career
  4. Question documented in ZIS : image of ZIS application